Incursion
by movingmidnight
Summary: Lately, the 'attacks' have gotten worse. Wild pokemon are attacking, killing other pokemon aligned with the humans. In a chance encounter with a strange young boy and his Rattata, Ash and Misty's world is turned right on its head.
1. Chapter 1

_Have you heard?  
>About the attacks? Yeah, I heard…<br>What I don't get is why isn't anyone doing anything about it?  
>Dunno if they can, I mean, who can stand up to those…<br>Careful! There's still folks who like 'em, like that girl over there  
>The one with the red hair, what about her?<br>She used to be one of those gym leaders.  
>Rumor has it; she still carries them around with her<br>Protection maybe?  
>Shh!<br>_  
>It didn't matter that the gang of three young men shushed upon her closing proximity. She could hear their whispers, just as easily as she could feel their nervousness. Everyone was uneasy these days. There was good reason for it too; the attacks that the trio had been whispering about had only gotten worse of the late.<p>

Many trainers had stopped their training in order to stay safe, which made being a gym leader all the harder. A frown bloomed angrily across her face at the thought, 'used to be one of those gym leaders' ha! She was still a gym leader and a pretty damn good one too, if anyone would be willing to challenge her again and find out for themselves.  
>Her Pokémon were not protection, not some hired guard as many of them were now, but companions that she had had since a young age. Besides, if anyone needed protection, it would be those drop-out trainers, who ditched their Pokémon in order to remain safe.<br>She quickly out distanced the whispers and their owners, but the words stuck ever more, and accompanied her all the way to the Pokémon Center.

Many would have been surprised by busyness of the medical center, considering the sudden lack of traveling trainers; however, the Pewter Pokémon Center had been deemed the best in Kanto. And any who still traveled in trained within the region always came here, if they could. That was why she was here, for a routine check-up for her Pokémon.  
>Upon entering, she went to the front desk, and filled out the necessary forms of admission. It was a new policy, to keep up with the awesome intake of patients. Those who needed the immediate attention, those just attacked, got it right away, those who were there for a checkup, had to wait for a little while.<p>

She reached the front desk, only to be roughly pushed aside by a boy at least two feet shorter than herself. Opening her mouth to tell him exactly how rude he was being, she was stopped by the sight of him.

As the boy desperately begged for help from the Nurse Joy behind the counter she saw how soaked in blood the boy was. His tatty t-shirt was drenched in the redness, and in his arms was the source of the blood: a Rattata wrapped up in a torn jacket. Her mouth closed and eagerly moved aside as a Chansey came to claim the poor brutalized Pokémon. The boy gave it over quickly and begged to go with it. He had to be held back by Nurse Joy before the Chansey could get the Rattata away from his trainer.

The boy was inconsolably crying in the nurse's arms and while Joy tried her best to get the boy calm, she still had a hospital full of Pokémon to tend to. She decided to get her Pokémon's check-up later.

"I'll take him Nurse Joy."

With her help, the nurse pried the boy off, and rushed to go attend to Rattata.

"No! No! No! I have to be with Ratty! I have to be with Ratty!" The boy screamed rather loudly, drawing attention from all over the lobby. She grimaced.

"Well honey, you can't go see 'Ratty' right now…"

"But I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!"

"Oh shut up!" Her biting tone did exactly what she had asked for.

The boy stopped the screaming, but his lip wobbled, on the verge of sobs again. She could feel the glares of the spectators burning into the back of her skull. She sighed and got down to his levels, resting on her knees.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Timmy."

"Okay Timmy…can you tell me what happened?"

His eyes watered again, and she feared the screaming again, but in a broken and stammered sentence said "We, we, we were, w-were…"

"Misty?"

The red-headed gym leader glanced up at the mentioning of her name. A man stood behind her and Timmy. He had a look of shocked recognition It took her a moment to remember a boy she once traveled with, who had deep brown eyes, shaggy black hair, and a Pikachu constantly riding on one shoulder.

"Ash?"


	2. Chapter 2

"You weren't attacked too? Were you?" He asked her immediately.

She stood, and upon doing so noticed that he slightly towered over her now. It had been ten years since she had seen him last. Pikachu, who was as always, perched on one shoulder hopped over onto hers and nuzzled her cheek with friendly familiarity.

"No, thankfully I'm just here to get my team a check-up. What are you doing here, did you get attacked?" She rubbed the electric mouse's ears as she spoke.

Ash shook his head grimly, "No but this little guy did."

He gestured to Timmy who still stood in front of them, tears rolling down his face again. Sighing, Ash lowered himself to Timmy's level and patted the young boy's shoulder.

"Did you give Rattata to Nurse Joy?"

Biting his lip, Timmy nodded. Ash gave him a proud smile and ruffled his hair, which Misty had only just noticed was brown.

"Good, that's good, they've got the best physicians here, and they'll fix Rattata right up. You'll see."

"Are you sure?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Ash promised crossing his chest with his hand, and then humorously pointed at his head like a gun. With an over exaggerated 'bang' sound he flopped over to the side, playing dead with a silly look on his face.

Timmy laughed at this, and Misty couldn't quite help herself from giggling a little either.

Eventually they were all convinced to go wait in the lobby, all three of them, Ash, Timmy, and Misty. Timmy tired, and miserable from the day's happenings had fallen asleep against Misty, his legs extended across Ash's lap.

"Pika?" The mouse squeaked, sniffing the young boy as he slept.

"Let him sleep Pikachu, he'll be alright."

The small Pokémon looked up at Ash, then back at Timmy, and then proceeded to snuggle up against him, despite how he must still smell of Rattata's blood. Misty smiled, gently smoothing the hair on Timmy's head. Luckily he was no longer wearing that blood-drenched shirt anymore. Misty had managed to find a t-shirt for him in her bag, although it was too big for him, as it came down over his knees.

"How did you find him anyway Ash?" She asked quietly.

"I was on the Pewter, Cerulean, Viridian crossroads, heading out of Pewter when this kid fell from the sky."

"He fell from the sky Ash? Really?"

Ash grinned impishly, "Well, more like dropped. Apparently a Fearow had thought Timmy and his Rattata were gonna be a good lunch. Timmy or Rattata must have fought back enough to make it let them go."

Ash frowned for a second.

"What I don't understand is why it attacked after it had dropped its prey, especially when it was out numbered with me and Pikachu there. It went straight for Rattata, gave it that large gash on its side. It only stopped after Pikachu and I retaliated and sent Timmy on ahead to get Rattata to the center. Even then, it still fought."

"Was it your jacket that Rattata was wrapped in when it got here?"

Ash nodded solemnly.

Misty touched his shoulder, "It was lucky you were there."

"It was lucky it was never like this when we were his age. Sure, that flock of Spearow chased me hours after I started my journey, but that was because I had to go and piss them off. Now, they attack, it seems, just to attack."

"Ash…"

"No, Misty, I don't know what you've seen or heard, but this is bad. Poison types don't just use their toxins to paralyze and run away anymore, they actually _poison_ other creatures, to the point of death. Grass types use vine whip to strangle, water types use water gun to drown, flying types use gust to suffocate…"

Misty blinked, "Have you been attacked Ash?"

"No," He shook his head, "But the old friends I keep in touch with have. May, from Hoenn had a run-in with a Seviper when she was training with her boyfriend. I've heard countless other stories on the road too."

"But no one's been really hurt."

"No humans anyway," Ash muttered darkly, "The Pokémon they are allied with however…"

Misty watched as the grimness that had cast a shadow upon his face receded for a moment. Ash was looking at Pikachu, who was now slumbering with Timmy.

"Strange…how the attacks only happen to trained Pokémon, not other wild Pokémon, but trained ones.

"Wild Pokémon always had a natural jealousy of trained Pokémon." Misty suggested.

"There's something more to it though… I've had a million instances where a wild Pokémon has attacked me out of fear or rage, but it was never enough to kill, just enough to get away or to get me to back down. But…that hasn't happened to anyone since these attacks started."

Misty stared forward, thinking about what Ash had said. These attacks were getting out-of-hand.


	3. Chapter 3

"Now, when you see Rattata, he's gonna be asleep okay? He'll be tired and he won't look so good, but I promise if Nurse Joy says he's better, he's better." Ash told the little boy hours later.

Nurse Joy had just come out to tell them Rattata had just gotten out of surgery. She assured them that with enough rest, the little creature would pull through just fine. Timmy insisted on seeing him, right then and there. And Ash and Misty insisted that they go in with him, to make sure the little boy could handle it. Nurse Joy had simply rubbed her temples, saying that she would go retrieve the head physician and have him meet them there.

As Ash and Misty led Timmy down the hallway, they were thankful that he was not yet tall enough to peer through the glass windows that looked into each recovery room. Some of the Pokémon there were in far worse shape than Rattata and the sights were almost too much for the adults to stomach.

With his hand fisted tightly around Ash's index finger, the trio entered the room. To the left, lay Rattata, in a sort of sealed tube. He lay on his least battered side; the one with the long, gruesome cut was visible. Bright neon stitches held the frayed and rugged flesh together. And both of Rattata's back legs were bandaged.

"Why is he in there?" Timmy asked as they approached. He seemed distressed by the glass and close to tears.

"It's called an incubator; it's to keep small things warm."

A doctor stood at the door, with spiked brown hair and deeply colored skin, he stood tall and formidable, but the smile on his face was nothing but friendly. And his squinty eyes gave away his identity long before he had to introduce himself.

"Dr. Brock Harrison I presume?" Misty said with her mouth tilted up on one side.

The physician curved one eye brow in query, "Do I know you?"

Ash feigned disappointment, "Brocko, how could you forget us?"

Pikachu, who had been unusually quiet, sprinted over to the doctor and hopped onto his shoulder. It nuzzled the older man's cheek. "Pika-chu!"

If Brock's eyes could have widened, surely they would have, "Guys! What are you doing here?"

Ash grinned, "Watching after these little guys

"Well the good news is that Rattata will be just fine, but he's gonna have stay in that incubator, at least overnight. He lost a lot of blood, and we can't risk him getting infected."

"He'll be okay?" Timmy asked softly.

Brock approached the incubator and waved for Timmy to follow him. After a nod of encouragement from both Ash and Misty, he left their sides and went to join Brock.

"I know it's scary to see a really good friend get hurt, but Rattata will get better I promise." Brock said, "See, he's sleeping very deeply right now, that means that his body is doing everything it can to get better."

"Can I hold him?" Timmy asked innocently.

Brock shook his head, "I'm sorry, but…he's too frail to handle right now, besides he needs to stay where he is to get warmer, but there is something you can do if you are very, very careful."

"Okay!"

Brock led the boy to the other side of the incubator, where a glove extended to the interior of the case. "Here, using this glove you can pet him, but only on the head okay? Everywhere else too hurt okay?"

As he demonstrated how to work the glove to Timmy, Ash and Misty took their leave of the room to stand just outside, just in case. Misty looked at the black-haired man with a look of helplessness.

"He seems so young. He can't be old enough to be a trainer yet." Ash said quietly returning the feeling.

"I don't think he is," Misty thought aloud, "Maybe Rattata is like a family pet of sorts, like your mother isn't Mr. Mime's trainer, but he obeys and lives with her."

"My mom!" Ash cried suddenly, "I have to call her, let her know what's keeping me, I'll be right back!"

With a pace that could have challenged his Pikachu's Ash darted out of sight to the nearest video phone.

"Nothing really ever changes does it Misty?"

Brock was back by the door again, leaving Timmy to be with his Rattata. Through the glass Misty could see Timmy gingerly petting the top of Ratty's head.

Misty shook her head and smiled, "He's as forgetful as ever, but just as noble, helping this kid like he did."

"And you?" It would have been an innocent question, if she hadn't seen Brock's eyebrow slyly lift.

"Shut up." She sneered, "I doubt you've changed your skirt-chasing ways, I'm surprised that they even let you work at a Pokémon Center with the sexual harassment you cause."

"Hey now, I am perfectly professional when I'm on the clock."

"And when you're off?" Misty prompted.

Brock didn't dignify with a response, but the sly little smile on his face as he glanced away told her all she needed to know. Before she could comment, Ash walked back into the room, his appearance blanched as a Dewgong.

"Ash?" Misty called his name tentatively.

"It's my mom, she got attacked."


End file.
